This Weekend
After sweeping the University of New Hampshire to close out 2022, Union opens the 2023 calendar year by hosting #17/18 Cornell and Colgate.
Union's Last Time Out
Union picked up a pair of non-conference wins over Hockey East foe UNH on Dec. 30 and 31. Union took a 3-0 lead in the first game with
Owen Farris,
Chris Theodore, and
Josh Nixon, all finding the back of the net. The Wildcats battled back to tie it going into the third.
John Prokop scored his first collegiate goal on the powerplay in the final frame to win the game.
Prokop struck again in the second game of the series with a goal only 2:34 into the game.
Liam Robertson and
Mason Snell tallied goals in the opening stanza to give Union a 3-0 lead after 20 minutes. Liam Devlin potted two for the Wildcats in the second period, but Union hung on to take a 3-2 victory.
Kyle Chauvette earned his first collegiate win in his first start at Messa Rink.
With the sweep of the Wildcats, Union improved to 7-1-0 on home ice this season.
Scouting the Big Red
After finishing the 2021-22 season in the ECAC Hockey Quarterfinals, the Cornell Big Red are off to an 8-5-1 start this season, including a 5-3-0 record in conference play. The Big Red are unbeaten in their last three games, blanking Dartmouth 1-0 on Dec. 3 and earning an 8-4 win and a 3-3 tie over AIC this past week.
All 22 skaters that have played for the Big Red this season have recorded at least one point. Cornell is lead by junior
Gabriel Seger who has 10 points (2-8-10) in 12 games. The former Dutchman is riding a three-game point streak going into the weekend. Seger and Zach Tupker (3-3-6) are the top two in the circle for Cornell, winning 60.1% and 60.7% of their draws, respectively.
Mitchell Travis anchors the defense with a team-leading 23 blocked shots and seven points (4-3-7) in 14 games.
Sophomore netminder Ian Shane is first in the country with a 1.53 GAA and eighth with a .926 save percentage. Shane is 7-4-1 on the season with a pair of shutouts against nationally-ranked UConn on Nov. 26 to claim the Frozen Apple and against Dartmouth on Dec. 3.
Scouting the Raiders
The Raiders finished the 2021-22 season with a trip to Lake Placid for the ECAC Hockey semifinals, eventually falling to Quinnipiac, 3-1. Colgate is 9-9-2 overall and 6-2-0 in conference play through 20 games. The Raiders are riding a four-game unbeaten streak coming into the weekend with wins over Dartmouth (5-1), Harvard (6-4), Maine (5-2), and a tie on New Year's Eve with the Black Bears (1-1).
Colgate has two scorers over the 20 point mark in Alex Young (12-9-21) and Matt Verboon (9-11-20) and six total in double-digit scoring. Young is currently second in the country in power-play goals with eight.
Junior defender Pierson Brandon has a team-high 47 blocked shots in 18 games to go with five points (1-4-5).
In net, junior Carter Gylander has posted a 9-8-2 record and one shutout for the Raiders. Gylander is ranked 13th nationally with a .923 save percentage and 25th with a 2.31 GAA.
Sanda's Return
Senior
Christian Sanda made his return to the lineup on Dec. 30 against UNH after an injury last February cut his junior year short. The senior winger recorded a shot and blocked a shot in his return.
Chauvette's First Win
First-year
Kyle Chauvette made his first collegiate start on home ice on Dec. 31 and earned his first collegiate win between the pipes. Chauvette turned aside 34 shots, including a big post-to-post kick save in the third period. The 34 saves is tied for the second highest save total by a Union netminder this season.
No Place Like Home
Union has only played 8 of their 19 games so far at home this season, posting a 7-1 record on home ice. Union won all three games in October and all three in December. Union's lone loss was against Harvard on Nov. 12.
Lead the Way
Just over two months into the season, 17 of 62 NCAA teams are led in scoring by first-year players. First-year
Nate Hanley leads the team in scoring with 16 points in 19 games.
Block Party
The Dutchmen have racked up 286 blocked shots through 19 games, averaging just over 15 blocks per game. First-year
Nick Young leads the way with 26 blocked shots with senior
Owen Farris (25) and first-year
John Prokop (24) right behind. Six student-athletes have 20 or more blocked shots so far this season. Compared to the 2021-22 season, Union made 258 blocked shots in the same time frame.
Oh Captains, My Captains
On Nov. 3, head coach
Josh Hauge named seniors
Owen Farris and
Connor Murphy and junior
Ben Tupker as the captains for the 2022-23 season.
He'd Be Honored
First-year
Nate Hanley was named the ECAC Hockey Rookie of the Month for October. The last time a Dutchman earned Rookie of the Month honors was on January 5, 2016 when Sebastian Vidmar was recognized. Hanley leads all Union skaters in points (3-10-13).
Shut 'Em Out
Senior
Connor Murphy posted his first shutout of the season and fourth since transferring to Union in the Oct. 29 6-0 win over the Engineers. In Union's Division I era, they had not blanked RPI at home. The lone shutout was back on February 23, 1924, a 7-0 win.
Murph Keeps Climbing
Senior
Connor Murphy continues his climb up the Union record books. His fourth shutout at Union ties him with Keith Kinkaid '11 for sixth place in career shutouts. Murphy needs one more shutout to move into a tie for fifth place with Justin Mrazek '08. He needs 11 saves to tie Kinkaid in career saves with 1,500.
Scheerer Scores
Junior
Bram Scheerer scored his first collegiate goal against UMass. After losing his freshman season to the pandemic, he saw his sophomore season cut short only eight games in with a season-ending injury against Clarkson. To date, Scheerer has appeared in 20 career games and has six points (1-5-6).
Mr. 100
Senior
Chris Theodore played in his 100th career game on Friday, Oct. 21. Theodore, a transfer from AIC, has played in all 19 games for Union this season and tallied seven points (2-7-9). The 2021-22 Atlantic Hockey Player of the Year has compiled 68 points (22-46-68) throughout his career.
Reigning Rookies
Union's first-year defenders are off to a hot start.
Nick Young was named the ECAC Hockey Rookie of the Week on Oct. 10 after scoring his first collegiate goal and blocking five shots against nationally-ranked UConn.
John Prokop earned the honor the following week after tallying an assist on five of Union's 10 goals between Oct. 13 and 15.
Cal Mell picked up his first weekly honor on Oct. 31.
Nate Hanley was named the Rookie of the Month after scoring a conference-leading nine points in 10 games.
Spread the Wealth
Through 19 games, Union has seen 22 of 26 skaters score at least one point. Seven of the eight first-year skaters all have at least one point.
New Kids on the Block
First-years
Nate Hanley,
Carter Korpi,
John Prokop, and
Cal Mell, as well as sophomore
Josh Nixon and senior
Chris Theodore all tallied their first points for Union in the opening weekend. In total, newcomers accounted for 12 of the 15 points scored (4-8-12).
New Bench Boss
Josh Hauge was named the 22nd head coach in Union hockey's history on April 15, 2022. Hauge was previously the Associate Head Coach at ECAC Hockey rival Clarkson University. Hauge earned his first coaching victory in Union's home opener, a 4-3 win over RIT on Oct. 1, 2022.
Fresh Faces
Union welcomes 13 new students to the team in 2022-23 comprising of four transfers and nine first-years representing eight states and three Canadian provinces.
Transfer Commits
The coaching staff was active in the transfer portal this offseason, committing four student-athletes:
Chris Theodore (AIC),
Mason Snell (Penn State),
Josh Nixon (Lake Superior State) and
Ben Tupker (Cornell).
Rounding Out the Staff
Joining
Josh Hauge and Assistant Coach
John Ronan behind the bench is
Lennie Childs, who previously served as an assistant coach with the Des Moines Buccaneers of the USHL.
Set Records
Senior
Connor Murphy made an immediate impact for Union in his first season. He set the program's new single-season save records with 1,060.
Looking to Surprise
Union was picked to finished eighth in the ECAC Hockey preseason coaches poll, earning 45 points. Local media were more optimistic, picking the Dutchmen to finish sixth in the preseason media poll.
NHL Bloodlines
Sophomore
Thomas Richter and junior
Mason Snell are sons of retired NHLers Mike Richter (New York Rangers 1989-2002) and Chris Snell (Toronto, Los Angeles 1993-95), respectively.
